


Aaronev Sucks in Every AU

by Katrinakrosp



Category: Girl Genius (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-28
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-09-29 05:01:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17196998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katrinakrosp/pseuds/Katrinakrosp
Summary: In all of Tatvek’s life, he had never had a birthday party. His father was never at home, and his sister was comatose ever since an accident, only kept alive by life support. A modern AU.





	Aaronev Sucks in Every AU

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Smithybadger](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smithybadger/gifts).



“Our story starts in the distant future of 2018, where three students run a small cafe, selling small baked treats and warm drinks for the holidays. They enjoy the politics of their university (as much as one can enjoy them anyways), and they frequent the local library for all sorts of secret things. Paris doesn’t get a lot of snow in the summer, but just last week an experiment gone awry did something to the weather patterns. The President of the University, called the Master by the students, is still hunting down the student who did it.”

 

The ground was blanketed in dark grey, the faux-snow had gotten dirty from seven days of muddy boots and wagon wheels. It had become more of slush, getting Tarvek’s shoes wet. He did not own any boots, because he shouldn’t have had to worry about snow in August. The Master should have caught the culprit by now, something was wrong. He was just getting back from his 8 o’clock class (which he seriously regretted taking), and he had the first shift at the shop. The streets were still dim, the cold, grey sky giving no hint of the sun that shone behind it. 

He stomped up the stairs, making sure his boots were clean before daring to walk across the good hardwood floors. That effort was clearly only exerted by himself, and with a grunt, he retrieved a mop and began to clean up the muddy footprints. He put himself to work, peering over his shoulder now and then, to look for Agatha, who was supposed to be working the shift before him. Suddenly, the bell on the door rang, and he raised his head to watch as Zeetha walked into the shop, bringing large amounts of dirt and snow with her.

Tarvek bit back a rude greeting, and reached for the mop. “Hey Zeetha.” He attempted to be welcoming, with a wide smile, and a welcoming posture. In truth, he was much more passive aggressive than anything.

“Sup.” He detested her one word answers, after all, how is one supposed to feel towards their arch-nemesis? Or well, he considered her more of a friend, but they were more often than not at war. Often times, they were competing over Gil’s attention, with each of them equally winning and losing.

“I stopped by for some coffee. A really big espresso. Morning runs are really exhausting, don’t you think?” Tarvek wouldn’t have known. He had never done a morning run in his life, veering more towards exercise that the gymnasium catered to. “Do you know where Agatha is?” she asked as he made her the coffee. 

“No idea, I just got here, and I haven’t been able to find her to relieve her of shift.” Smuggly, he added, “You could go look for her, if you want.” He knew Zeetha detested going back in the kitchen, for some reason he could never seem to understand. He loved baking, it was very peaceful. It reminded him of his sister. Anevka had hated cooking too.

“Ew, No thanks.” As if to prove this sentiment, she stuck out her tongue, and made a face. “I just need to know where she is. She missed out on the morning run because she was working an early shift, and I wanted to surprise her so we could start now and not waste any time.” Zeetha went on and on about her Warrior Training. Her mother was a war hero, so Tarvek tended to believe it was just something about her family.

Tarvek folded his arms over his chest. “I told you, I don’t know where she is. Watch where you’re stepping, you’re tracking in slush from outside.” He moved to mop up another wet spot, frowning at how dirty some of the floor was. 

“OK, fine. Tell her that she’s going to miss warrior training when you find her. I’m going to the gym.” She spun out the door, the bell ringing behind her. Agatha stepped from out of the kitchen. 

“Did I miss Zeetha?” She asked, looking worried. “I was just cleaning up some... residue from a recent experiment of mine.” Agatha loved to bake, oftentimes starting to forget about what she was originally making in the name of science.

Tarvek nodded. “You just missed her. I’m here to relieve you from your shift. You can go.” He then smiled, hoping he didn’t sound too robotic. He had a bit of a crush on Agatha.

“Great! I’ll be going then, catch you in General Physics!” She grinned as she rushed out the door, hurrying so she could catch Zeetha at the gym. Tarvek found himself smiling as well, something that happened too often with Agatha around.

He turned from the door, and began to clean up the inadvertent mess caused by a few hundred college students waking up for their early classes. Soon enough, the room was clean and the trash was taken out. He glanced at the clock, which Agatha had ‘fixed’ last week. It now displayed the time in changing colors, depending on the weather outside. The passed week, the clock had displayed the cold, harsh white tone Tarvek had come to loathe. 

Any second now students would come pouring in, and his fellow baristas weren’t even here. Groaning yet again, he wondered where the hell Gil was. Probably still in some pretty young student’s dorm, waking up just now. Sniffing disdainfully, he chugged the rest of his coffee and waited for the horde to arrive. He would be crushed again, like always.

The next few minutes, he spent preparing. There was much to be attended to, the coffee brewers needed to be filled with water, the ice machine must be checked, and the breakfast foods they also served required some attention. 

When walking into the kitchen, he saw what Agatha had been working on. Observant as he was, even he could not figure out the purpose for what appeared to be a pizza oven in a cafe. Turning his back to the kitchen, he took the plates of hastily prepared sandwiches and set them out in what he hoped was a sufficiently appetizing manner. 

The rush began, distracting Tarvek enough that he soon forgot about Gil’s absence, which had been bugging him. Gil slipped in through that back door some time after Tarvek had served Van, a politician's son. Tarvek didn’t notice him until the rush had subsided, partly due to there now being more than one barista.

Tarvek suddenly started, having just realized Gil was there. He had an uncanny ability to sneak into the restaurant through the back door Tarvek always ‘accidently’ left unlocked. Deciding an explanation was due, he faced him. “So,” he sniffed, “You finally decided to show?”

Gil grinned. “I’ve been here for half an hour. Why do you think the line got so short?”

“It certainly wasn’t due to your help, I’ve done 79 drinks and counting.”  Tarvek pumped the flavored syrup into the drink, and placed it on the counter, shouting some young woman’s name. “80.”

Gil began to laugh. “Oh, really? I’ve served more than half that number, and I’ve been here for half as long as you. I guess we know who’s really faster.” 

“It doesn’t really matter anyways,” Tarvek huffed. “Agatha’s coffee engines make brewing this stuff take no time at all.” This was certainly true. Agatha’s strange blend of chemistry and robotic science had strange results, the strangest of all the coffee engine.

It had been modified into what it was now not that long ago. Agatha’s parents, the Clays, had been mortified when they found out about it, and begged her not to use it. Eventually, they relented, but it struck Tarvek as odd that they wouldn’t want anything to do with it. He supposed that they were just looking out for her, not using a lab could be dangerous.

Gil and Tarvek relaxed, and continued to work. Soon enough, it was the lunch break, and two other workers, Moloch and Jim, took over. 

“So, Holzf äller, how have your latest escapades treated you?” Gil thought back to yesterday, in which he may have accidentally destroyed a fire hydrant, flooding the street that Tarvek lived on.

“Well, I can promise you yesterday was no exception, it was an accident.”

“Ah. Yes, an accident.” Tarvek’s excellent usage of air quotes displayed his disbelief, and his grimace told Gil all he needed to know about how the last 24 hours had treated him.

Gil became serious all of a sudden. “Sturmvoraus, I’m trying. I really am. Do you think just one minute and I can completely change? I’ve been so... frustrated lately, and I don’t have time to think. You know I’m trying, but it’s… it’s hard.” A deeply troubled look replaced Gil’s trademark grin as he slowly started to fall apart.

A strange look crossed Tarvek’s face. “Hey, Gil, don’t worry. Me and Agatha will always be here for you, no matter what. We’ll always be your friends, you hear?” 

They both suddenly became as red as the clipboard Violetta held in her hands as they realized they were so close that she could measure the distance between them in centimeters. They scrambled away in a harried way to look natural. Even Jim would have noticed they were hiding something, but Violetta decided not to bring it up. “I’ve got some crates full of syrup so we can refill the soda machines,” she called. “Help me unload them.” 

The two boys moved blithely after her, pointedly not gazing at each other, and staying at least a foot apart at all times. Violetta tried not to laugh, thinking back to a particular joke she had heard that day.

Later that day, Tarvek slid into the seat next to Agatha, distracting her from her thoughts. A whispered hello was exchanged, and then they faced the board to take notes. About a minute late, the delivery had taken longer than expected, and his bike had gotten caught in the snow. He had a weird feeling in his head, like there was something he was supposed to remember, but shook it off and began to copy Agatha’s notes.

The class ended about an hour later, and Agatha followed Tarvek out the door. It was all too easy for her to see he had a bit of a crush on her, but he was acting different today. 

“Hey,” she said, and caught up to him.

“Hey,” he replied, a bit too confused to think of a better reply. He knew there was something he was missing.  _ What was it? _

“So, I’ve been thinking, do you want to meet Gil and me at the library tonight? We’re studying for a test in calculus, and I know you already took that class. We could use your help.”

Tarvek nodded. “Of course! What time?” he said, with what he hoped was just the right amount of enthusiasm.

“6 o’clock. Meet you there!” She sauntered off, leaving Tarvek even more confused.

Tarvek arrived at 5:50, and Agatha showed up a bit later. She pulled him into the building, where, much to his confusion, he didn’t spot Gil at all. Agatha dragged him throughout the stacks, and into different places even he had never explored before. Twists and turns brought him to a small corner of the library, where it appeared sufficiently abandoned. There was a small table, hidden from even the most prying eyes, and there sat the entire staff of the coffee shop.

Moloch sat to one side, holding up a hastedly secured banner, which read “HAPPY BIRTHDAY TARVEK.” Hexalina Snaug was standing next to them, and across from her stood Gil, Jim, Lars, and several others. Even Colette was there. He had thought she had class today. They all smiled as he came up, and in unison, shouted, “Happy birthday, Tarvek!” At which point they were rudely shushed by others present.

Agatha looked a bit bashful. “There couldn’t be any cake, because we’re in the library, but we didn’t know where else to go. We were thinking we could maybe go back to the cafe, and..” Agatha trailed off at this point, seeing how happy Tarvek looked. 

On the verge of tears, he whispered, “I’ve never had a party before,” and then rushed forward to all of his friends. One by one they were successively hugged before he got to Gil. 

“Thanks for coming.” Tarvek appeared to barely be holding it together, his shield had suffered massive damage.

“Well, I couldn’t just miss the birthday of my best friend could I?” They were both becoming emotional now.

“No, you couldn’t,” Tarvek agreed, his breath catching in his throat, and Gil began to grin. It was incredibly contagious. 

“Now come on, let’s go get our coffee!” 

Following Agatha, the party made their way to the coffee shop, where there was coffee and cake for all.


End file.
